1944 Van Swearingen and Chicago Daily Tribune Map of the Philippines

This is a Monday, October 23, 1944 Van Swearingen and Chicago Daily Tribune map of the Philippines published days after the American landings on Leyte. Depicting the Philippine Islands from Luzon to Mindanao, red text boxes provide a concise overview of the history of World War II in the Philippines. Beginning with the Japanese invasion of Luzon on December 10, 1941, only two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Outnumbered and outgunned, American resistance was fierce, but unable to hold off the Japanese assault. Several notations around Luzon trace the Japanese invasion, including the first landing at Aparri and Vigan, the Japanese occupation of Manila on January 2, 1942, and the end of American resistance on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942 (which led to the infamous Bataan Death March). It also notes the surrender of Corregidor, an island fortress in Manila Bay, on May 6, 1942. General Douglas MacArthur had been in command of American forces in the Philippines and narrowing escaped from Corregidor before flying to Australia from an airfield on Mindanao in March 1942, which is also noted here. MacArthur vowed to return to the Philippines, and his triumphant return is celebrated here, with the landings on Leyte in October 1944.

The Philippine Campaign

Launched on October 20 of 1944, the Philippine Campaign was a World War II joint American and Filipino military operation intended to liberate the Philippine Islands from occupying Imperial Japanese forces. The Japanese Army overran most of the Philippines during the first half of 1942, retaining it for the subsequent 2 years. American General Douglas MacArthur began the campaign by announcing on Philippine radio 'This is the Voice of Freedom, General MacArthur speaking. People of the Philippines: I have returned.' The campaign progressed rapidly, driving the Japanese out of one island after another. Although by this time the Japanese were clearly losing the war, they gave no sign of capitulation and refused to surrender. During the course of the campaign Japan suffered nearly half a million casualties compared to only about 50,000 Americans. The campaign continued until Japanese forces in the Philippines were ordered to surrender by Tokyo on August 15, 1945, after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Van Swearingen and published by the Chicago Daily Tribune on October 23, 1944. In the past, we handled another edition of this map published in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune on Friday, October 27, 1944.